Does anyone of one work as an actuary? Could anyone of you please share something about this profession? Thanks thanks.

What do you want to know?

How is the job nature? I didn't study acturial science in college. How could i qualify as an actuary in that case? Also, I could choose to qualify thru' the societies in US, UK or australia? Which one is better?

Very few actuaries studied actuarial science as such in college, so that is a non-issue.

I worked as a pension actuary in the US, so my experience is not necessarily representative of what most actuaries do, most actuaries working at insurance companies.

Most of the intellectual challenges for US pension actuaries are of the "crossword puzzle" variety, by which I mean what the solution sought is to a problems devised by other people. Tax and accounting issues, mostly. There is almost no frontier for pure actuarial science at all, at least not one that is primarily explored by actuaries.

Pay is good. Work is not particularly stressful; most stress is of meeting deadlines rather than of having something spin out of control. If you play by the rules and are relatively bright you can advance reasonably quickly, though I think there is something of a glut of pensioin actuaries in the US due to the demise of the defined benefit pension plan.

Which qualifications to seek probably depends most upon where you want to end up. US programs are probably the most useful internationally, although UK programs might be more highly regarded in places with former British presence -- I don't really know. UK programs apparently have more emphasis on investments. There is also beginning to be a fair amount of co-recognition between systems.

Marsden,
"Very few actuaries studied actuarial science as such in college, so that is a non-issue."
Do you mean a person without passig some of SOA exams still can work in an insurance company ?
On Street, if a firm usually plans to hire a quant. analyst, do those

whose background is acturial science have more advantages than physists or probabilists ?
Could you tell me about what career path and chances of a people studying acturial science are in usual ?
If a person wants to be a actuary, what qualification should he have ?

Does work of a actuary have more challenge and fun than a quant analyst from your personal experience and observation ?

One guy told me there are lots of jobs which need strong quant. skills
in biotechnology field, say biostatistics.
He said it is easilier to find a job in biostatistics field than
quant. finance.
I'd like to hear some comments about it.

Do you mean a person without passig some of SOA exams still can work in an insurance company ? >>No, that's not what I meant. Exams are the coin of the realm for beggining to mid-level actuaries. You might be able to get an actuarial position in an insurance company without any exams, but you generally WILL be able to get an actuarial position if you have an exam under your belt (...and your head doesn't spin around 360 degrees or anything like that). Apparently insurance companies, as opposed to consulting firms, make it actuarial students' job to pass exams and nothing else.On Street, if a firm usually plans to hire a quant. analyst, do those whose background is acturial science have more advantages than physists or probabilists ? >>I would guess that the opposite is more nearly true -- a firm looking for a quant will want a PhD in stats or physics or math rather than an actuary. Actuaries can make almost as much money in traditional actuarial fields (PhDs can't), and actuaries come out of a much less inquisitive educational system.Could you tell me about what career path and chances of a people studying acturial science are in usual ? >>Insurance and human resource consulting.If a person wants to be a actuary, what qualification should he have ? >>Good at taking standardized tests, logical, detail oriented.Does work of a actuary have more challenge and fun than a quant analyst from your personal experience and observation ? >>I've never worked as a quant, but I would be surprised if it were not more challenging and fun than being an actuary. This is not to say that actuarial work is all boring, but the main part of it pretty much is; the main territory of actuarial practice is thoroughly mapped out.

Marsden,From your experience, what actuarial course exam is suitable for a beginner to write ? EA-1 or course 1 ? What is the difference between them ? Is there any student fee reduction there ? How long do you spend to prepare your first SOA exam ? How do you prepare for those SOA exam ?How good is the pay for a starter in acturial consultant position ?

I believe outlook of the actuarial science and the statistics will be better than quant finance in future. The job market of quant finance will saturate very soon in future. But it is more easy to hunt a job in the actuarial science and the statistics in future.

Vincent,Sorry about my late response of Duffie's 3rd edition. The 3rd edtion has added more about BM and some pages assoicated with corporate finance. I did not go through it deeply, so you had better look it up on www.amazon.comCould you share your own working experience with us ? Are you a to be working as a quant In HK or Sing. ? How is quant job market in your place?From the previous forums, its seems there is more fun in quant job than in statistics or acturial job.The quetion is how to combine acturial science with quant. finance together

From your experience, what actuarial course exam is suitable for a beginner to write ? EA-1 or course 1 ? What is the difference between them ? >>Course 1 is a better start. EA-1 is a governmental exam that is worth something only to pension actuaries. Course 1 is an exam of calculus and linear algebra that beging the more thorough SOA or CAS exam series. There are people who practice as actuaries with only EA designations, but it severely limits their career options.Is there any student fee reduction there ? How long do you spend to prepare your first SOA exam ? How do you prepare for those SOA exam ? How good is the pay for a starter in acturial consultant position ? >>I don't think there is a fee reduction; you can go to www.soa.org and figure it out for yourself. If you know your calculus, you don't really have to prepare very much for Course 1. The courses have reading material lists and prior exam questions are available for study as well. The important thing to remember is that the exams have only about a 40% pass rate, and that includes people who are taking the exam a second or third time. You can probably get a better idea of starting pay by doing your own web search; I would guess that you can start in the lower to mid 40's, but I really don't know for sure what's going on currently.

Could you share your own working experience with us ? Are you a to be working as a quant In HK or Sing. ? How is quant job market in your place?From the previous forums, its seems there is more fun in quant job than in statistics or acturial job.The quetion is how to combine acturial science with quant. finance together >>J,Thankyou. The quant jobs in HK is rare except a few research assistant position in academic field. The investment banks in HK use the quant result from their headquarters and employ their staffs from universities in USA. In order to be competitive, evaluation is important. so some people in HK strive to be chartered for the acturary and the CFA while they have a job.

Vicent,Don't they employ quants from students from CHKU or UST ?I know there is a MSc in FE at UST(U of Science and Tech in HK), is not it ? Its tution fee is very expensive !Living expense is quite high in HK. HK is quit small as well. I dont know if those financial business people are happily living there. (Suicide cases happen at least twice per day in average according to statistics) It is lower than middle east, though.

Vicent,Don't they employ quants from students from CHKU or UST ?I know there is a MSc in FE at UST(U of Science and Tech in HK), is not it ? Its tution fee is very expensive !Living expense is quite high in HK. HK is quit small as well. I dont know if those financial business people are happily living there. (Suicide cases happen at least twice per day in average according to statistics) It is lower than middle east, though. >>J, The students in Msc of FE at UST are part-time study. They have a job at daytime and they go to study at evening. ps. uasually their jobs are not quant finance, but finance-oriented jobs. They learn quant finance is to increase competition, but not job's need. In Hk, it is fast-pace living style.

One guy told me there are lots of jobs which need strong quant. skills in biotechnology field, say biostatistics.He said it is easilier to find a job in biostatistics field than quant. finance. I'd like to hear some comments about it. >>::>>>My cusin study in biotech field and I study in quant field.She receives an offer and I am still waiting. By the way, we are both international students in US. I believe that market in both quant and finance are very tough this year.